“We’re very pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision,” said Timothy F. Sweeney, one of Thomas’ appellate attorneys.

McSween’s body was found on Nov. 26, 2010, in a wooded area outside of Mario’s Lakeway Lounge on Andrews Road in Mentor-on-the-Lake, where she worked as a bartender. She was strangled and stabbed multiple times in the neck and back on her 49th birthday, which was also Black Friday. The power lines to the bar had been cut, and McSween and two other women had their tires slashed.

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Thomas was convicted after a jury trial in 2012. Lake County Common Pleas Judge Richard L. Collins Jr. chose to adopt the jury’s recommendation of death rather than downgrade the sentence to life in prison.

Thomas has maintained his innocence throughout and claimed he had no motivation to commit the crime.

Although Thomas had frequently been seen carrying a blue pocketknife before that night, it was not recovered during the criminal investigation. At trial, prosecutors introduced five other knives Thomas owned, describing them as “full Rambo combat knives.”

Justice Terrence O’Donnell wrote the court’s lead opinion, which determined the trial court committed plain error by admitting those five knives that prosecutors knew were not used in the crime into evidence. The justices found a reasonable probability that the error affected the outcome of the trial, and said reversal was necessary to prevent a manifest miscarriage of justice.

“... The evidence here is circumstantial and the case against Thomas does not contain overwhelming independent evidence of guilt,” O’Donnell wrote. “The state did not establish a motive for him to kill McSween — its suggestion that Thomas murdered her because he was upset with his girlfriend over her failure to show up for a Thanksgiving dinner and because McSween had declined his request to dance is not supported by ‘reason and experience.’ The state did not recover the murder weapon or obtain a confession, and Thomas had no significant criminal history.

“... Also, no blood, DNA, hair, semen, saliva or fingerprints belonging to Thomas was found at the crime scene, on the victim’s belongings or on or in the burn barrel, and there is no evidence that he had any visible scratches, swelling or injuries immediately after the murder. Investigators did not find any of the victim’s belongings in his possession, nor was her blood or DNA found on his clothes or shoes.”

In addition, the majority opinion noted that Thomas voluntarily submitted to a polygraph examination conducted by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation in January 2011. The examiner determined Thomas told the “substantial truth” during the test about questions of whether he murdered McSween, knew who did it or did anything to cause her death.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Patrick F. Fischer said he would affirm the trial court’s decision.

Fischer stated it was “a close question” of whether the trial court committed an error by admitting the five knives, but argued the knives did not have an “appreciable impact on the jury’s verdict.”

The dissent also stated that the prosecution presented substantial evidence to support the jury’s verdict, including that Thomas and McSween were present at the bar within two hours of the murder; Thomas possessed a knife that could have been used to stab McSween; and a man fitting Thomas’ description was seen standing by a fire barrel within hours of the murder.

“... All of this evidence establishes Thomas’ guilt independent of the admitted knife evidence,” according to the dissent.

Justices Sharon L. Kennedy and R. Patrick DeWine joined the dissent.

Lake County Prosecutor Charles Coulson said he agrees wholeheartedly with Fischer’s minority opinion.

“We will be filing a motion for reconsideration. We’ll see what happens then,” Coulson said.

Meanwhile, Thomas will stay in prison until the case is retried or he makes bond, which has not been set.